Okay, last week we finally wrapped up the MBIP Twelve Weeks of Chicken Wings tour. That was a twelve week tour that ended up being fifteen weeks. I’m a little burned out on food posts after that, so I thought this week I’d take it easy and go get something to eat and just have a casual little blog about it. This is going to be a palate cleanser before we begin another grueling food tour.

Last week I broke my no chain restaurant rule and went and got some chili crack at Steak ‘n Shake and this week I’m going to the one other chain restaurant I visit once in a little while, Chili’s. Chili’s has one item that’s almost impossible to find anywhere: beanless chili. Whether beans belong in chili is an argument that’s gone on for ages and I’m of the belief that they don’t belong anywhere at all in chili. Real, authentic chili is truly beanless, that’s just the way it is and the way it will always be, so just shut the fuck up and keep the goddamned beans out of chili! Okay, let’s go get some beanless chili and relax before I begin my next MBIP food tour next week, which I’m going to announce at the end of this post. So start scrolling down and we’ll chill out with some beanless chili at Chili’s restaurant!

Here we are at Chili’s. This place has my favorite chili ever, it’s beanless and really tasty, no wonder they named the restaurant after the dish!

Before we enter, please take note of the unplanned obligatory front door mirror shot. I never stop loving it when this happens!

Wipe your feet before you eat, please and thank you!

Here’s the bar area where I like to sit and eat in here.

And I chose that spot at the end to sit at. Note that I’m drinking iced tea today, a rare day where I’m not drinking beer in a bar. I’m driving today, so I decided to just go for the caffeine rush and have some beer later on in the evening.

This is Eric, the manager of Chili’s who gave me the green light to take pictures in here. Sometimes it’s a hassle in a corporate chain restaurant or store to get free rein to walk around and take photos, *cough Avanti’s cough* and I appreciate him letting me wander around with the MBIP camera.

This is my view of the back of the lit-up bar at Chili’s.

There’s booths and tables in this room which is directly to the right of the bar area.

More tables and booths are located in this other room opposite the room we were just in.

This sign confused me and after obsessing over it for three minutes I walked away and hoped never to have to think about it again. Now I’m looking at it and I’m pissed I have to relive that confusing moment in time, but what the fuck are you going to do? Let’s just move right along, nothing to see here, folks!

It’s topped with shredded cheese and I’ve put a nice shaking of pepper on the cup. I love this stuff!

I take two packs of crackers and don’t crumble them too much so the chili doesn’t get all cracker mushy. That’s the worst!

Their chili is spicy, has just a little bit of heat that mixes nicely with the creamy rich melted cheese. There’s also chunks of beef in here and it’s really a tasty cup of chili!

So good!

And what the fuck, I saw chicken wings on the menu and had to try them out. It’s kind of hard to break this chicken wing habit! These are their new smoked chicken wings. I like the presentation of them on the plate.

They’re smoked and sauceless, but they come with a little vat of barbecue sauce, so let’s dip a drumstick and give these a try...

They’re okay, but the sauce is kind of bland and the wings are a little dry. So while I highly recommend the chili here, go here for chicken wings and keep it local! Speaking of local, I’ve decided for the next MBIP Food Tour, we’d take a short six week tour and sample soup around town. So starting next week, we’ll begin the MBIP Six Weeks Of Soup tour. I already have three places in mind, but if you know of a local place that has exceptional homemade soup, leave it in the comments section or over athe MBIP facecrack page. Okay, we’ll see you all tomorrow!